Antioch’s Griffin Hill runs wild in win over Round Lake

This is what they mean when they say that on such-and-such a night, player so-and-so literally could do no wrong.

Because even when Antioch junior running back Griffin Hill looked like he was doing something wrong during Friday’s North Suburban Prairie opener against visiting Round Lake, it all turned out just right for the Sequoits.

The result was a 46-0 halftime lead for Antioch, which went on to earn a 53-0 victory in a game that featured a running clock for the entire second half.

Here’s what Hill did in the first 24 minutes: He carried the ball 12 times for 195 yards and scored on runs of 43, 44, three and 15 yards.

That was Hill when he was right. The one time he was wrong, he fumbled at the end of a 40-yard run to the Round Lake 5-yard line with 49 seconds left in the first half. But the fumble was picked up by teammate Weston Fox, who covered the remaining distance for the touchdown that kicked the game into running-clock mode.

Antioch’s second-half points came on Nick Dorosan three-yard run with 2:24 remaining.

“It all worked well for us,” Hill said. “It was a good game for us, obviously. Our goal for today was to make a statement and get our first conference win. But we need to continue to make statements so that the next team we play in the conference knows we’re coming.”

That will be Vernon Hills next Friday night. The Cougars, like Antioch, are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the division.

Antioch coach Brian Glashagel was thrilled with his team’s execution.

“Sometimes, you let teams like this hang around, but we didn’t do that,” the coach said.

Round Lake (1-2) opened its season with a win, but trailed 57-6 at halftime last week against Chicago Catholic League power DeLaSalle.

“Next, we’ve got to go down to Vernon Hills. Year in and year out, us and Vernon Hills play some really tough games. Even when they’re loaded or we’re loaded, it always turns out to be a very good game.

“It’s going to be a playoff-type deal, and we want to take command of the division,” Glashagel added. “We’re coming down to the meat-and-potatoes of the schedule. Week in and week out, it’s going to be a battle.”

Besides Hill, also running well for Antioch were Jacob Lannahan (6 carries, 77 yards) and Alan Taylor (9-59).

Next week, Round Lake will be home against Zion-Benton on Friday night. The Panthers played without starting quarterback Cole Steger, who was injured in last week’s game.